Taking Over Charles's Post

"So it's him!"

After some thought, Rorschach finally recalled who the guy named "Chris Bradley" in the file really was.

So he was an old comrade of Wolverine, Logan.

He used to work with Wolverine, Sabretooth, Ghost, Meatball, and others under Stryker, doing some shady business.

But later, for some unknown reason, like Wolverine, he also left Stryker, went into hiding at an amusement park, and used his abilities to con people and scrape by.

In the end, things didn't seem to go well for him—he was apparently killed by Sabretooth.

This time, was he going to recruit this guy?

But this guy's ability didn't seem all that strong.

He could control electricity, but based on how it was shown in the movie, it was limited to charging a dead elevator or lighting up an unplugged bulb—nothing more.

He showed no combat capability whatsoever.

"Rorschach, any problems?"

Erik's voice rang out as he stared at Rorschach from the side.

Though he was a bit worried they might find a corpse, there was no way he could say that out loud.

Rorschach immediately shook his head. "No problem."

"Good! Go get ready. We leave in half an hour!" Erik nodded at Rorschach, pushed open the door, and walked out of Charles's office.

"Charles, if there's nothing else, I'll head back too." Rorschach also stood up.

"Rorschach, after all I've told you, aren't you curious about what kind of enemy we're up against?"

Charles glanced at Rorschach and asked leisurely.

For someone with telepathic abilities like Charles, few people could keep secrets from him.

Even without deliberately reading memories, he could still sense others' emotions.

But for some reason, Charles found that his ability was completely ineffective against Rorschach.

He had no idea what Rorschach was thinking.

"When it's time to know, I'll find out, right?" Rorschach smiled, said nothing more, and got up to leave as well.

Charles couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Though Rorschach was very young, he was more composed than Charles had imagined.

It seemed some things could indeed be entrusted to him.

Shaw's activities were becoming more frequent, but he happened to have a telepath on his side who could completely block Charles's perception.

That meant the Mutant Growth Accelerator was useless against Shaw, and Charles could only cooperate with the CIA and use conventional methods to investigate.

It was a long and tedious task, and with other matters on his plate, Charles was truly stretched thin.

If Rorschach had heard Charles's thoughts, he would have laughed out loud.

Composed, my ass. He just already knew who Charles was up against.

"Hey, Rorschach!"

Back at the apartment.

The mutants playing cards in the hall all turned to greet him.

"Rorschach, what did Erik call you over for?"

Raven tossed a card from her hand, craning her neck to look at Rorschach.

"To find someone. I think we might have a new companion soon." Rorschach didn't hide anything.

"Really? I wonder who it'll be this time."

"Awesome, we're getting another mutant?"

Hearing that someone new was coming, everyone was pretty excited.

After all, mutants and ordinary humans were, strictly speaking, two different species. That sense of kinship among the same species was like meeting a fellow countryman in a foreign land.

Words couldn't express it.

And Rorschach was a mutant too, which meant he was naturally on the opposite side from ordinary humans.

"Rorschach, why you?" the tattooed girl asked curiously, with a hint of sourness in her tone.

They had all joined around the same time, so why did Erik and the others favor Rorschach?

Just because he was strong?

She could fly and spit corrosive liquid, damn it!

"Maybe Erik needed a driver."

Rorschach shrugged, said nothing more, and went straight back to his room.

He changed clothes, packed a few things, and time was about up.

Rorschach met up with Erik.

"Erik!"

"Rorschach!"

They exchanged brief greetings, each got into their own vehicle, and began heading toward their destination.

"Rorschach, can I ask you something?"

On the road.

Erik casually turned the steering wheel while glancing seemingly idly at Rorschach.

"Of course, Erik. What do you want to ask?"

Rorschach naturally wouldn't refuse. In fact, he was also curious about what Erik wanted to ask him.

"Do you think humans and mutants can truly understand each other and live together?" Erik cut straight to the chase with a very sharp question.

"Charles believes so."

"And you?"

"I don't know."

Rorschach shook his head.

He was still a child now, at least in Erik's eyes, so naturally he wouldn't have any profound insights on such a deep question.

"But look at the black people living in America, the ethnic minorities—they still can't be truly accepted. I think even if Charles's vision can be realized, there's still a long way to go."

"Why do you ask?"

"Just making conversation!" Erik lightly steered the topic away.

Just making conversation?

Rorschach couldn't help but glance at Erik. He didn't think Erik was just making conversation; it felt more like he was testing Rorschach's stance on certain matters.

But Rorschach didn't dwell on it.

The car continued moving unhurriedly, everything as usual.

Springfield, Ohio.

Inside a brightly lit, noisy amusement park.

Bradley sat slumped at his booth like a lazy orange tabby sunbathing, utterly listless.

"Hey, how do you play this?"

It wasn't until a couple appeared in front of him that he finally opened his eyes. A blonde girl was staring eagerly at the light bulb in front of Bradley.

"Simple. Turn off the light, and you win a prize. One dollar gets you two tries." Bradley explained to her.

It sounded easy to win. The blonde girl immediately paid and eagerly reached out to turn off the light.

Click!

The switch flipped off.

The bulb still shone brightly.

"Of course, that's too obvious." The blonde girl yanked the power cord out, but the light remained on.

Now she was a bit confused.

Her boyfriend walked over, quickly unscrewed the bulb.

But a strange thing happened—the light still didn't go out.

"Freaks!"

The couple was clearly spooked. The man muttered a curse under his breath, grabbed the blonde girl, and hurried away.

"Looks like our Homelander is doing pretty well for himself, wouldn't you say, Zero?"

Among the crowd in the amusement park, Sabretooth grinned at Zero beside him, his expression somewhat ferocious.

After dropping that remark, Sabretooth began striding toward Bradley.